Authorities Recover Boater’s Body from Lake Fordoche

Search and Rescue officials recovered the body of a Central man from Lake Fordoche in St. Landry Parish on July 20.

Search crews from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office and the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office were notified about a capsized vessel and a missing boater in Lake Fordoche, which is a tributary north of Henderson Bay, around 9:50 a.m.

The body of Allen Fontenot, 66, was found by search crews around 1:30 p.m. in the near vicinity of the capsized vessel.

According to the survivor, the two men were in a 21 foot boat when they hit a stump that caused the vessel to capsize. The survivor was able to swim to the shore.

Fontenot was not wearing a personal flotation device and his body was turned over to the St. Landry Parish Coroner’s Office. LDWF has recovered the vessel and will be the lead investigative agency for this boating crash incident.